Computational Complexity and other fun stuff in math and computer science from Lance Fortnow and Bill Gasarch

Monday, August 18, 2008

Amihood Amir more famous than Dick Cheney

(Guest post by Richard Beigel.)

Top-9 list of internet fame criteria. You know you are famous when ...

9. You show up on the first page of google hits for your full name (Richard Chang)
8. You take up all 10 slots on the first page of google hits for your full name (Carolyn Gasarch)
7. You show up on the first page of google hits for your last name (Lance Fortnow, Johnny Carson)
6. You take up all 10 slots on the first page of google hits for your last name (Bill Gasarch)
5. You show up on the first page of google hits for your full name ... even when it is misspelled (Richard Beigel)
4. You show up on the first page of google hits for your job title (Richard Cheney)
3*. You show up on the first page of google hits for your first name (Amihood Amir, Don Knuth, Lance Armstrong, Johnny Depp, Johnny Cash)
2*. You show up on the first page of google hits for your initials (Richard M Stallman)
1. You show up on the first page of google hits for your middle initial (George W Bush)

*It was hard deciding which of these two should come first, but Richard Stallman shows up under both and, surprisingly, Don E. Knuth doesn't show up under 2.

Disclaimer: These criteria are intended for the purpose of humor only.
They do not represent the opininion of the Natiοnal Science
Fοundation or the the Federal Gοvernment, and they
will not affect your chances of getting a grant.
~

This may be true for English language and several other big languages, but for languages with few speakers (and thus less namesakes) it's much easier to find yourself in the first page when googling with your first name.